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b"sdHealth,wealth,children,parents.Tears of pain and tears of joy.Life is quite frankly not always simple and or fun.But as long as were alive;as long as we have precious momentswe can try to make the most of them.Have a good one; h

Teperberg, Terra, Merlot 2009: If you're looking for a 2009 israeli wine that doesn't show a single hint of overripe sweetness/dates or high alcohol then this one is quite a nice example. As with it's big and more complex Reserve brother, the grapes are sourced from a vineyard located in Har Bracha in the Shomron Hills, a terroir that proves with many other wineries to be one of the country's top locations for growing Merlot. Aged 14 months in french oak barrels, this wine is quite old world in style, showing restrain fruit and reasonable impact of oak.Dark garnet with on the nose classic notes of raspberries and blackberries with hints of roasted herbs. Medium, perhaps medium to full-bodied with on the palate more raspberries, blackberries, red currants and more herbs, very good acidity and with a touch of freshly cracked pepper showing with the rise of mouth-drying tannins that coat the mouth on the moderately long finish. 13.5% Abv. Excellent value for money.

Shabbat lunch:

Carmel, Kayoumi Vineyard, Riesling 2012: I've recently become a sucker for all things Riesling (NOT Emerald!) and I was very excited to taste and drink for the first time the 2012 release of this wine. Carmel started making this Riesling with the 2005 vintage and upgraded it, both in name and price, from the Appellation/Regional series to the Single Vineyard series with the 2010 vintage. While it is labelled as off-dry, I've found all '09 to '12 vintages to be quite dry and I recall that Rogov z.l. wrote that this wine would be labelled as dry ('trocken') in Germany and Alsace. Well, it doesn't disappoint. Bright pale yellow in color with on the nose aromas of white and citrus tree flowers, classic petrol and lime. Medium-bodied with on the palate white peaches, tangerine, lime zest and green apple peels followed by touches of apricots and nice minerals, intense bracing acidity and with a hint of drying tannins gently coating on a moderate finish. 12.5% Abv. A beautiful, complex wine that I expect to improve and become even more expressive over the next 6-12 months and then be around until 2017 or so.

Nothing special this shabbos. We had an event at our shul on Sunday and the wine supplied was the 2012 Altoona Hills Cabernet Shiraz and the 2012 Altoona Hills Chardonnay. These are the best of the inexpensive wines available in Ottawa. Basically table wines, but very drinkable. Anyway, there were lots of leftover bottles, so everybody took some home. I had mostly the Cabernet Shiraz. Like I said, drinkable, but nothing special. You should see some of the real junk they bring in in the lower priced category. Even my own stuff is better!

My own Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon are fermenting nicely in the basement. I made extra to make up for my tragic loss of last years' Cab. I promise to be more careful next time!

The Psagot was absolutely delicious. Goose Bay OK. Elvi InVita just fine.Tavor CS is a heavy wine, rough, never got to open up over two hours. I kept feeling some good stuff is lurking underneath. Maybe more cellaring will help.

We drank Lueria Rosso 2011, a blend of Sangiovese and Barbera. I enjoyed this as much as the previous Rouge. It is a meeting of Tuscany and Alba, which I admit is unusual. But, it's still on my list of favorites; my son disagrees. I must have some Italian history.

We also had P. Lichtenstein Auteur 2010 from Arza. Nothing from Arza and Tel Arza had been impressive up to this point. But, this is a beautiful, elegant, refined Cabernet Sauvignon. It has the luscious flavors of Cabernet with a smoothness of a high end wine. I hope the winery is inspired by this success to improve its other wines.

This past weekend i was a bit under the weather and my taste buds were out of whack.

Friday night 2009 Dalton Alma Shiraz, Mourvedre, Viognier I tried to smell it but since i was sick, i got nothing but crushed berries. I couldn't get anything out of the taste but the tannins were nice and it was a nice medium to full bodied feel.Saturday 2010 Tabor Cabernet Sauvignon Adama Terra Rosa Soil. Always nice (i think) but unfortunately, same tasting notes as above but a little fuller and heavier tannins.

Decided to go for something different this week and opened a bottle of Cantina Gabrielle Sangiovese. I rather enjoyed it, but my wife did not. It was fresh, fruity with a lightly acidic back edge. However, since my wife did not like it, it's off the list.

Celebrating my daughter's wedding, I served my guests a variety of wines--I consider top quality--with the Shabbat meals. While I got to sample many of them, I'll provide notes only on those that I got to drink with my meal.

Hagafen Prix Chardonnay 2006 - Its elegance stands out. The fruit is ever present with persistent notes of apples and pears, that are complimented nicely by the oak induced vanilla, maple and cinnamon. A-/**/Y

Hagafen Cabernet Sauvignon 2001 - The tannins merged beautifully with the fruit, providing a great drinking experience. The fruit is still bright and vibrant, and the wine doesn't give you flavors of one that is aging and maturing. A-/**/Y

Four Gates Syrah 2003 - Binyomin prides himself with this wine, and rightfully so. The wine boasts a port like weight that is delightful, coupled by delicious fruit that is laced with pepper. A-/**/Y

Mazel Tov, Pinchas! Too bad you never thought of Gedalia David, my 25 year old son, though. You could have been my mechuten. Oh well, so he'll find someone else. probably my mechuten will hate wine, but you can't have everything, I suppose. Still, dreaming about what could have been...

I also agree here, many wines that I equally love, particularly the 2003 Four Gates Syrah and the 2004 Hagafen Prix Zinfandel. As well, I agree with the wines that Elie enjoyed this past weekend as being among my favorites, except for the 2011 Elvi In Vita, having not tasted it unfortunately.